Sea Witch: Philosopher's Stone
by mai321lunatic
Summary: After her adventure at Camp Half-Blood, Nikki Potter is back in the place that holds so much bad memories. She'll meet old friends and new ones but nothing ever stays normal for the Daughter of the Sea God. Fem!Harry/Percy ooc I don't own Harry Potter
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hi! This is Nikki's Hogwarts adventures. I don't have the _Harry Potter_ books so the details are iffy at best. It'll also be very short.

Every time I finish a story, I'll wait a week before I upload something else.

Ω

When you ask someone if they would rather live in a house or on the streets, they would most likely say in a house.

Not Nikki.

For Nikki, the best time of her life had been when she had been left on the streets by her relatives whenever they happen to get free time away from London - it was her life on the streets that had let her survive her relatives and survive those…'people.'

She had always felt safe living on the streets, no matter how ironic that statement was. On the streets, she could fight back, she could speak up and the rules of the streets were ones she could follow because they were smart rules – rules made for your survival.

It wasn't like that back with her relatives. Her life with her relatives was meant to bring her down and crush her will. Their rules were all about benefitting them and never her. They had the control and Nikki hated it. The sea is never restricted.

And then when they left her with _them_…

Nikki could have lived on the streets for the rest of her life, but every time her relatives come for her, she came to them against her will. The first, and last, time she had finally been able to resist the compulsion, she had been caught and the next week, she had met Sally.

To erase her depressing thought on her relatives, Nikki walked through her old haunting grounds, hoping beyond hope that her relatives were not in the city. She entered an alley that she sometimes used to go to sleep in and saw that someone had already taken the spot.

He was big, as tall as Nikki when he was sitting, wearing jeans and an orange shirt. His back was to her but she could tell that he was tinkering with something.

'Hello,' Nikki said and he jumped. 'What are you doing there?'

He hesitated at first but then he showed her a bronze horse. Nikki crouched down beside him and looked at it. 'That looks cool! How'd you make it?'

He blushed and said, 'From all that.' And pointed to a pile of scrap metal.'

'Amazing!' she said, clapping for hands. 'My name is Nikki, what's yours?'

He smiled. 'My name Tyson.'

'Nice to meet you, Tyson. Would you like something to eat?'

His stomach growled and he blushed but nodded.

Nikki led him to her original destination, _The Leaky Cauldron_ and they ordered lunch. Nikki talked about anything, Tyson adding things on at different times, and ignored the stares they were getting from the other occupants of the bar.

When they were done, Nikki mischievously asked Tyson, 'Do you want to see something…magical?' Tyson nodded eagerly and Nikki went over to the barkeep, Tom.

'Tom, could you open the back for us?'

'Sure, young lady,' Tom said, putting the glass he had been cleaning down and walking into the back. Nikki and Tyson watched as Tom touched a sequence of bricks with a stick – his wand – and brick by brick, the wall turned into a doorway.

'Welcome to Diagon Alley.'

Through the doorway was another world. It was crowded with people, all running around and talking that it was impossible for an eavesdropper to listen to only one conversation. Both walls of the alley were covered in different types of stores, people mingling in front of them and people inside waving wands and doing magic.

'First, we've got to get money,' Nikki said and Tyson just nodded, acting like a little kid staring at everything in amazement. Nikki watched in amusement as she led him towards a snow-white multi-storied marble building.

They walked pass a set of burnished bronzed doors into an entrance hall with a silver door which was engraved with a message:

_Enter, stranger, but take heed_  
_Of what awaits the sin of greed_  
_For those who take, but do not earn,_  
_Must pay most dearly in their turn._  
_So if you seek beneath our floors_  
_A treasure that was never yours,_  
_Thief, you have been warned, beware_  
_Of finding more than treasure there._

'They're goblins,' Nikki explained to Tyson, pointing to the diminutive creatures flanking the doors. 'They run this bank, Gringotts.'

They lined up with other people waiting for a goblin to serve them. When it was their turn, Nikki was lucky to get the goblin that she wanted

'Griphook!'

Said goblin looked up and saw Nikki. His mouth stretched into a wicked grin.

'Good to see you again, Miss Po –'

'Shh!' Nikki interrupted, looking around nervously.

Nikki turned back to Griphook and pointed to Tyson. 'I'd like you to meet my friend, Tyson.'

Griphook examined him. 'How'd you befriend a Cyclops?'

Nikki blinked. 'Cyclops?' She turned around and stared at Tyson. The Mist cleared and Nikki saw that Tyson only had one eye. She turned back to Griphook. 'Ha, didn't know he was. It's not a problem is it?'

Griphook shook his head. 'Not at all. Goblins respect Cyclopes as maker of weapons. Tyson is still fairly young so he shouldn't be a problem. I suppose you want to go to your vault?'

They followed Griphook into one of the side doors and hopped into a cart. 'Hold on tight,' Nikki told Tyson and then they were off. No matter how many times Nikki went on a cart ride, she never got bored of it.

After getting the money, they were all sat comfortably in one of the offices in Gringotts.

'Griphook,' Nikki said. 'You said Tyson is fairly young. Does that mean he doesn't have any training?'

Griphook nodded. 'It's probably so. Cyclops usually abandon their children on the streets to learn the craftsmanship themselves. Why?'

'Is it okay if Tyson learns the basics from the goblins?' Nikki asked. 'It'll be only for the school year and then I'll be taking him with me to New York.'

Griphook looked thoughtful. 'There might be a price, but I'll bring it up with the head.'

Nikki looked relieved. 'Thank you.'

Griphook grinned. 'I haven't done anything yet.' Then he turned serious. 'Miss Potter, are you ready for the whole story?'

Ω

Nikki knew something was different about her when her blood froze into perfect marbles and when she was able to control them with her mind. In another life, she might have thought herself a freak, just like her Uncle and Aunty always called her but she knew that any advantage she could get would help her in the future.

Nikki discovered different kinds of magic when she accidently found the secret community of magic users in Japan and Egypt on the rare times that her relatives took her with them on their trip. Nikki discovered she was from that world when her relatives took her to New York, where Sally told her about her parents.

Just like before, she accidently found the magic shopping centre and entered Gringotts bank. She asked for an inheritance test and then she was sent to the London branch where she met Zatang, her family account manager. Griphook was the goblin that Nikki would go to get money from her vault so as not to alert anyone that the Potter heiress was there.

Griphook told her about her legend but she never asked for the facts. Nikki asked that more information would not be told to her until she was eleven and about to enter Hogwarts, a requirement for her to inherit her inheritance. Nikki wanted to enjoy her ignorance a little longer.

After shopping for her supplies, Nikki rented a room for her and Tyson, who would be using it during the school year and was currently tinkering with something. Nikki lied down on the bed and process the things Griphook had told her and then she had a thought.

Nikki sat up and wrote a letter. She went over to Hedwig and tied the letter to her. 'Take this to him.' Hedwig hooted and flew out the window.

Then Nikki went to the bathroom and made a rainbow. She fished two drachmas out and said, 'O goddess, accept my offering.' And threw in the two drachmas. 'Iris, Goddess of Rainbows.'

The rainbow wavered a bit and then a blond-haired women appeared in the mist, her wings tucked behind her back. She said, 'Now this is rare. No godling has ever asked to see me before.'

Nikki grinned sheepishly. 'I want to send a message to someone,' she said. 'but the place he's at is not very pleasant, so I thought it would be good to ask you face-to-face first.'

Iris looked interested. 'And where is this place?'

'Azkaban, the wizarding prison.'

Iris gasped. 'Who did you wish to speak to?'

'My godfather, Sirius Black,' Nikki said. 'It's said that he betrayed my parents but there are no records of a trial. I want to ask him personal if he did what they say he did.'

Iris pursed her lips. 'I'm sorry, godling, but rainbows do not appear easily in that place. The connection will not be made.'

Nikki sighed sadly. 'Thank you, Lady Iris.' Iris bowed her head and the rainbow disappeared.

Nikki stood there, staring at her reflection when she heard a familiar melody. Nikki paused. She walked up to the wall and placed her ear against it, just listening. It was the sound of a harmonica but it was definitely Oracion. Only one other knew that tune.

Nikki walked to the door just as the music stopped and opened it just as the person from the other room did the same. She stepped out and stared at the boy next door.

He was just about her height, if a bit shorter. He had his back to her so she couldn't see his face but his hair was messy and a strange colour – blond at the top and black at the bottom. That's what gave his identity away to Nikki.

'Zack?' she called and he paused. He turned his head slowly to face her and she stared into purple eyes that solidified who this was to her.

The boy looked confused about who she was at first, but then his face cleared, his eyes widened and he said, 'Nix?'

Nikki smiled. 'It _is_ you, Zack. I know that melody anywhere.' She walked up to him. 'I didn't know you knew magic.'

'I could say the same about you,' Zack said and smiled a small smile.

Nikki tilted her head. 'When did you become so gloomy?'

Zack raised an eyebrow. 'When did you become so cheery?'

Nikki smiled and hugged him and Zack hugged her tightly.

'I'm gonna guess that your real name isn't Zack,' Nikki said, pulling away.

'And your name isn't really Nix?'

Nikki smiled and held out her hand. 'My name is Nikki Potter. Nice to meet you.'

'Zack' was stunned for a moment but he took her hand and shook it. 'Nice to meet you, Nikki. My name is Blake Ritter.'

Ω

Blake Ritter was her partner.

At the time, he had gone by Zack while she had gone by Nix. They had met when another street kid caused a commotion to make a distraction for his friends to steal some food. As the coppers chased them, they bumped into each other and had stayed together.

Blake was an orphan, like Nikki but he lived at Wool's Orphanage. It wasn't pleasant there, the caretaker not really taking care of the children – it was one of those corrupt orphanages.

Blake had started living on the streets the same time Nikki did but he spent more time there than Nikki because she always had the compulsion to return to her relatives and so spent most of her time was spent there. They both never knew who had it worse.

A month before Nikki would leave for New York; Blake was adopted. The family that adopted him said that his father was a part of their family but the Head of House at the time wouldn't allow him to stay with his mother and then he died a year before Blake's mother did. The current head wanted to fix that decision and have Blake learn their 'traditions.'

But to learn that he would be coming to Hogwarts with her was a welcome surprise.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** _Found It_ is not connected to the _Sea Witch _universe.

Ω

Nikki and Blake sat in the last compartment of the Hogwarts express as it pulled out of London. They had come early and had chosen this particular compartment to avoid the crowd of people and the noise, both not really being fond of the two.

Nikki wore jeans and a long-sleeve red shirt while Blake wore dark jeans and a light blue button-up shirt over a long-sleeve black shirt. Nikki was reading and listening to music, hoping that her i-pod would work in Hogwarts, while Blake was asleep, both of them lying down across the seats in the compartment.

They were interrupted from their activities when the compartment door opened. Nikki stopped reading and Blake opened his eyes. Nikki looked up to see a blond boy come in and slid the door closed. He ducked down as two boys walked past.

Nikki pulled out one of her earphones and sat up. 'Let me guess. They won't leave you alone?'

'How'd you guess?' he panted.

'That's why I'm back here. I'm Nikki.' She waved her hand over to Blake. 'That's Blake.'

'Draco Malfoy.' He looked between them. 'What are your last names?'

Blake sat up, his feet still on the seat next to him. 'Mine's Ritter.'

Draco's eyes widened. 'The Knight Family?'

'That's the one.'

Nikki got off her seat and gave it to Draco, who sat down. She sat down next to the compartment door, putting her feet next to Blake's on the seat beside her. Draco looked at her questionably.

'Mine's Potter,' she said. Draco's jaw dropped. 'Please don't make a fuss of it.' After the first time she got mobbed, she had no want to experience it again. At the time, she wasn't very fond of physical contact and the constant shaking of her hand unnerved her. It was only her training in stealth that had let her escape.

Draco raised an eyebrow. 'Not one for fame?' His godfather Snape told him she would probably be ecstatic about it, especially if he was anything like her father.

Blake snorted. 'Nikki prefers to be in the shadows.'

'So I guess you hide the scar with your hat?' Draco asked.

Nikki nodded. 'Yep and if anyone asks, I'll say I inherited the Potter hair.'

'I can believe it,' Draco snorted. 'My godfather has compared James Potter's hair with a bird's nest.'

'Who's your godfather?' Blake asked.

'Severus Snape,' Draco said. 'He teaches potions and it the Slytherin Head of House. He was best friends with your mother before they had a falling out and doesn't like your father so he might be…unfriendly towards you.'

Before more could be said, the door opened again to reveal a plump shy boy and a familiar girl with frizzled brown hair.

'Hermione!' Nikki said, hugging said girl.

'Nikki!' Hermione exclaimed. 'I didn't know you were a witch.'

Nikki smiled. 'I could say the same to you. And I always said I was special.' She turned to her two companions. 'That's Blake Ritter and Draco Malfoy.'

'I'm Hermione Granger,' Hermione said and began a starring contest with Draco.

'I never heard of a wizarding family with the name of Granger.'

'I'm a muggleborn.'

'Oh.' Draco said, sounding slightly disappointed. 'Not that, that's bad or anything but…my parents are pureblood. They think all mud- I mean muggleborns are beneath knowing. So…around other people that they are friends with…I might have to ignore you.'

'Sorry to hear that.'

Nikki, Blake and the other boy exchanged a look and shuddered. _Preteen Romance._

'I'm Neville, Neville Longbottom.'

'So what house do you want to be in?' Nikki asked once everyone was seated.

'I want to be in Gryffindor, but I'll probably be in Hufflepuff. I'm not that good at magic.'

'It might just be confidence issues,' Nikki said. 'You probably have a lot of magic.'

'Maybe?'

'Hermione, any preferences?'

'I thought maybe Ravenclaw or Gryffindor.'

'I'll probably be in Slytherin,' Draco said. 'My whole family's been in Slytherin, but Ravenclaw would be good too.'

Blake shrugged. 'I'm not exactly sure. I'll get there when I get there but I'll probably follow Nix.'

'Nix?'

'It's Nikki's nickname,' Hermione explained. 'What about you, Nikki?'

'Slytherin,' Nikki said immediately.

Draco's jaw dropped again.

'What?'

Draco shook himself out of it. 'It's just a surprise you'd want to be in Slytherin. Most children of the Dark Lord's supporters go in that house. It's not exactly safe place to be for the Girl-Who-Lived.'

'But that's the beauty of it,' Nikki said. 'I'm infiltrating enemy territory. And wouldn't it just cause a stir if the supposed Saviour of the Light side went into a house that has a bad reputation of creating Dark Lords?'

'That's Nikki alright,' Hermione said. 'She's always looking for trouble.'

'That is not true - trouble finds me. I've just decided to have fun with it.'

The door opened again revealing a boy with dreads and two twin redheads who Nikki recognized as the boys that had helped her and Blake get their trunks on the train even though they hadn't asked or needed it.

'See Jordan, I told you Nikki Potter was here.'

'Blimey, nice to meet you, Nikki. I'm Jordon – you've already met Fred and George.'

'He's not Fred! I am!'

'The one on the left is Fred. He has more freckles on his cheeks and a faint scar on his left thumb. The one on the right is George. He has no scar on his thumb, but one on his middle digit. Probably for throwing the one finger salute at someone.' Nikki said, rolling her eyes and smiling good-naturally.

The twins gawked at Nikki then at each other before dragging their friend out.

'Someone can tell us apart Forge!'

'Our plans are foil Gred. We may need to recruit her!'

Nikki just shook her head, put her earphone back on and went back to her book.

Ω

Draco and Hermione had discovered on the ride that they liked a lot of the same Mundane and Magical authors. The occasional spat on politics sent them arguing and the argument on half-breed creature rights would have gone on for hours if Nikki hadn't threatened to hex them if they didn't quiet down.

Neville came out of his shell a little bit when Hermione brought up the subject of magical plants. He had a great deal of knowledge about them, apparently so much that Draco claimed he could pass Potions without a problem.

Once they were off the train, they followed the games-keeper Hagrid to the boats while the older students went over to carriages being pulled by horses with skeletal bodies. Draco had been caught by Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, his two 'bodyguards' and share a boat with them along with a girl. Nikki, Blake, Hermione and Neville went together.

When they got to the castle, they were greeted by Professor McGonagall. She led them to the entrance of the great hall where they were told to wait, looking at certain people when she said to make themselves presentable.

'Have you heard? Nikki Potter is supposed to be coming this year,' exclaimed a redhead to the dark boy next to him. 'My brothers swore they saw her on the train, but they won't tell me what she looked like."

'Have you seen her yet?'

'No not yet. I can't wait though.'

'Do you think she remembers how she defeated You-Know-Who?'

Nikki rolled her eyes

'I bet she'll be in Gryffindor like her parents were.' another student exclaimed.

'Honestly,' Nikki muttered to Blake. 'No one's fate is decided on who their parents were. I don't even remember them.'

'Just ignore them,' Blake muttered back. 'You're gonna destroy their expectations anyway.'

Nikki tilted her head side to side slowly, looking thoughtful. 'True.'

After the surprise visit of the ghost, Prof. McGonagall returned and escorted them into the Great Hall where there were four long tables filled with students, with space at the front for the first years about to be sorted. The professor took them towards a three-legged wooden stool with an old hat sitting on it. There was an air of confusion around the first years, but then the hat started singing:

_'Oh you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuff are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you 've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!' _

(Harry Potter & the Philosopher Stone)

Even with the badly tuned singing, everyone, except for the first years who were in awe of the hat, clapped and cheered.

McGonagall pulled out a long parchment, a list and began listing off names.

'Granger, Hermione.'

'Gryffindor!'

Out of the corner of her eye, Nikki saw Draco look disappointed.

'Longbottom, Neville.'

'Just breathe, Neville,' Nikki whispered to him, pushing him forward.

'Gryffindor!'

Nikki gave him a thumbs-up as he ran to the Gryffindor table and sat beside Hermione.

'Malfoy, Draco.'

'Ravenclaw!'

There was silence. A Malfoy not in Slytherin? Someone started clapping and then the rest of the hall was clapping though some were still confused.

'Potter, Nikki.'

There was the silence again but it was over much quicker, filled with whispers: 'Did she say Potter…'

'Is it really her…'

'Do you see the scar…'

Nikki sighed and walked up to the stool and sat down. As the old hat was being placed on her head, she saw the expectant faces of the crowd and secretly smirked just as the hats flap covered her head. There was nudging on her mental shields and she let them down and entered her mind as well.

Nikki appeared in a pavilion in a rose garden during a sunset. Further behind her, pass rose bushes and hedges, you could see a mansion and in the horizon, you could see the sea. Nikki was sitting at an table which was set for tea and sitting across her was the old hat.

'Interesting mind you have, Miss Potter.' He commented.

'Why thank you,' Nikki said. 'I suppose you are here to sort me?'

'Yes, but I would need to see into your mind.'

'How deep would you need to go?'

'Just the basics.'

Nikki nodded and hopped off her chair, revealing that she was actually five years old. She grabbed the hat and put him on her head. She jumped off the pavilion and appeared in front of the mansion and went inside. If it had been anyone else, they would have gotten lost in the maze but it was only a few minutes before they were in a bedroom.

'Look all you like,' Nikki said. 'But everything that you see will be stay in here.'

Ω

It had only been two minutes in the real world and everyone was anxiously waiting for the Girl-Who-Lived to be sorted into Gryffindor, because where else would she go?

So you can be understandable that they were all surprised when the hat said, 'Slytherin!'

There was stunned silence, so much more than when Draco had been sorted into Ravenclaw. The first to clap was Hermione followed by Blake, Neville, Draco and then the redhead twins. The whole hall was clapping now, but no one was really into it except the before mentioned people.

At the teacher's table, Dumbledore, the Headmaster, frowned. That was not supposed to happen.

Nikki smiled and hopped off the stool. As she walked over to the Slytherin table, the twin redheads stood up and saluted like mundane soldiers.

'GOOD LUCK IN THE SNAKE PIT NIKKI! Fred yelled.

'WE WILL MISS YOU IN THE LION'S DEN!' George added.

'STAND TALL AND SHOW THEM THE ERRORS OF THEIR WAYS! SHOW THEM THE LIGHT!' the two yelled dramatically.

Nikki smiled at them and stood at the front of the Slytherin table. There was staring and then Nikki dipped into a formal bow and sat down, receiving respectful nods in return.

As Nikki waited for Blake to get sorted, she felt someone attempt to break her mental barriers and looked around. She looked Dumbledore straight in the eye as he smiled grandfatherly at her and she felt another attempt to break her walls.

Blake was sorted and just as he said, he followed Nikki into Slytherin.

Ω

The Slytherin dormitories were not spilt up in genders. There were multiple rooms in the dungeons - some seen and some hidden. If you found a room that you wanted first, you get to keep it and you could share it with anyone you want, even people from the opposite gender. The Head of House was not going to put you in a room with people you didn't trust or couldn't stand.

'There are three unspoken rules here,' the female prefect said. 'First, finder's keepers is the law. If you leave it out in the open, it's fair game. NO whining about it.

'Second, all the houses are gunning for us. According to them we're Death Eaters in training. We don't care about things like that. If you see a fellow Slytherin in trouble with another house, help them out, even if you think they're an ass. We take care of our own. No one else will.

'Third, Snape will give you three warnings if you're caught out of bounds. None of the others will. If you're caught out of bounds after curfew, we recommend lying your ass off.'

Nikki grinned. She liked this house already.

'Our unofficial motto here is 'if you can smile when something goes wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.

'A close second is admit nothing, deny everything, and make counter-accusations.

'Remember to keep internal quarrels private. If you have any questions, your best bet is to ask a Prefect.

'Now spread out and find your rooms, your trunks will appear when you've decided.'

First years ran around, looking for the best room but Nikki and Blake knew that looks could be deceiving.

Blake followed Nikki around as she checked out rooms that weren't already taken by older students or other first years. Blake trusted Nikki to find the right room for them because of her instincts that had been refined after years of living with her relatives, even better than his with his family's training. Nikki was also a sensory type witch meant she could sense and differentiate magic easily so letting her lead was always good idea unless she happen to be having a headache.

Finally, Nikki stopped at a room with two doors – the one they went through and another that magically went to the common room. The walls were dark blue, the carpet was green and the ceiling was just black. There were four poster bed with curtains and a closet with intricate designs on the door on the back wall and there were four work desks in each corner. When they chose a bed, their trunks appeared at the foot of them.

They were asleep before their heads hit the pillows.


	3. Chapter 3

Nikki woke up just as the sun appeared along the horizon. Ever since arriving in London, Nikki had a habit of waking up the moment the sun appeared. It was an old habit she had had when she had been living with her relatives but it had disappeared when she started living with Sally. She supposed that coming back had reawakened the habit.

Blake was still asleep and wouldn't be waking up until six which was an hour from now. After changing into sweatpants and a sports bra, she decided to enter the closet which, she had discovered the night before, led to a circle room that was brighter than the dungeons with eight doors. They each had curtains, each a different colour - green, red, blue, yellow, brown, purple, white, and black.

The red, blue and yellow colours led her into the common rooms of the other houses, the green one leading to the Slytherin common rooms. The brown led her into the library and the white led to the kitchens where house elves were preparing breakfast so she left them alone. The purple door led her outside Hogsmead, near where she could see the Shrieking Shack in the distance. It was the black door that left her puzzled.

It led to a large room filled with junk, piles of it towering over her. As she walked around, looking for a door, her scar began to hurt and despite the pain, walked closer to the source. It was a diadem - simple but beautiful. The whole of the diadem was a raven spreading its wings with a blue jewel in the middle as the centrepiece, but something evil was attached to it.

Nikki uncapped Riptide, wondering if celestial bronze would be able to get rid of the wraith she swung the sword at the diadem and it passed right through the diadem but it must have hurt the wraith in some way because it let out a horrible screech that hurt her ears and her scar. She increased the distance between them and the pain and noise faded.

Walking away from the diadem, she finally found the door. Looking outside, she saw a hallway and on the opposite wall was a tapestry depicting the attempt of Barnabas the Barmy to teach trolls the ballet.

When Nikki returned to the room, she found Blake awake and already dress in his workout clothes – a singlet and sweatpants – with two backpacks next to him.

The bags were bottomless and inside were all of their school books but it wasn't charmed with the featherweight charm. They ran around Hogwarts, wearing the backpacks while avoiding the teachers on patrol, Filch and his cat. After the run, they went outside to the paddocked and sparred.

During the week they had spent together at the Leaky Cauldron, Nikki found out that Blake's family were magic knights – able to do magic but also incorporated physical abilities along with their magic. The Ritter family didn't involve themselves with Britain because the wizarding community weren't very fond of their way of using magic, even though they were classified as an Ancient and Noble Family to the British community.

Blake had discovered that he could inherit his mother's legacy but, just like Nikki, he had to complete at least four years at Hogwarts. Since neither wanted their skills to dull during school, they trained and sparred together every morning. Nikki had every thought of getting Hermione to join them along with their other friends.

Ω

When Nikki got to the Great Hall, she immediately sat next to Hermione, who was reading a book while eating and sitting next to Neville, at the Gryffindor and started eating.

'Go to your own table, you slimy snake!' A boy with the same shade of red hair as the twins said to Nikki, his mouth still full with food.

'Don't speak with your mouth,' Nikki said after giving him a cursory glance. 'I sit wherever I want and I want to sit with my friends. If you've got a problem, tell it to someone who cares.' Nikki turned to Hermione. 'Have you continued your training?'

Hermione looked up from her book and nodded. 'I can now hit to the centre three times in a row.'

Nikki swallowed. 'That's good. Blake and I train in the mornings at six near the lake. If you want, you can come join us.' Nikki turned to Neville. 'You can join too, Neville.'

'Is th-that o-okay?' Neville stuttered.

'Sure, the more the merrier,' Nikki said. 'If you're not good at magic, develop another skill of make up for it.'

Neville nodded uncertainly.

Draco walked into the Great Hall and saw them sitting at the Gryffindor table. He hesitated at first but came over nonetheless.

'Piss off, Malfoy,' said the same red head boy.

Draco ignored him, instead saying hello to his friends.

'Hey Draco, you want to join in with our training?' Blake asked.

'What training?' Draco asked.

'Muggle martial arts,' Hermione said putting her book down. 'We'll probably do magic as well but we'll be learning to fight.'

'Why?' Draco said curiously.

'As a pureblood wizard,' Nikki said, 'would you expect someone to get close and personal and punch you in the face?'

Draco thought about it and shook his head slowly. 'Muggles are weird.'

'Well, it's what they've done to make up for not having magic,' Nikki said. 'You wizards should really pay attention to the people who outnumber you 1500 to 1.'

Finally, the redhead seemed to have enough of being ignored and said, 'Why are you talking to them, Hermione? Neville? They're Slytherins and he's a bloody Malfoy!'

The whole group stared at him as if he was stupid. Before they could retort, the twin redheads placed a hand on both his shoulders.

'Now what's the problem –' Fred said.

'Little Ronniekins?' George said.

'They're not bothering anyone.' Fred.

'They're friends.' George.

'It shouldn't matter what house they're from,' they finished together.

'I'm _really_ liking these guys,' Blake whispered to Nikki, who nodded. 'I agree.'

'B-but they're bloody Slytherins!' 'Ronniekins' exclaimed.

The twins sighed dramatically.

'Ron's a lost cause, Fred.'

'I believe so George.'

Nikki rolled her eyes and pulled out her wand. She waved it and turned Ron's hair puke green and his skin pick with yellow polka dots. Ron yelped and fell out of his seat. The twins turned to her and gave her thumbs up, reminiscent of Gai from Naruto and said, 'Good job!'

But Nikki wasn't finished. She picked up her bag and threw it at Ron when he stood up. He caught it alright but couldn't handle the weight and fell on his back again.

'What do you have in here?!' Ron exclaimed. 'Bricks?!'

It took both of the Weasley twins to get the bag off their brother but even then they couldn't carry it for more than a few seconds before it was dropped on the floor again.

Fred opened the bag and saw that it was full of books!

'Bloody hell!'

Nikki looked at her timetable, happy to see that she was with most of her friends. She picked up her back and walked out the hall muttering, 'What are they doing putting the two largest prejudice houses in so many classes together? That's just asking for trouble,' not knowing that she had just left a whole hall completely gobsmacked.


	4. Chapter 4

In the first week, Nikki found some classes better than others.

Astronomy, Herbology and Charms were interesting classes in themselves and Defense Against the Dark Arts was a joke as far as Nikki was concerned. Professor Quirrell was hardly teaching them a thing due to his stuttering.

History of Magic would have been an interesting subject, if it wasn't for the act that the teacher, Professor Binns, was quite literally dead boring. He didn't even notice that his classes had officially become nap-time, even the Ravenclaws and Hermione were having a hard time staying awake. Nikki usually read a book to pass the time and dedicated students quickly followed her example.

In Transfiguration Professor McGonagall, immediately gave the impression that she was not someone to mess with. "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts, anyone messing around in my class will leave immediately and no come back. You have been warned."

Things got even more interesting during Potions class with Professor Snape. It started when he was reading off names for the class and got to Nikki's. "Ah yes, Nikki Potter. Our new … celebrity." When he finished the register Snape stood up and addressed the class, "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making, as there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses … I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

During the lesson, Snape stopped in front of her and stared into her eyes, entering her mind. Snape found himself on a beach during a sunset. He saw the mansion in the horizon and began to walk towards it, only to find that his feet were stuck to the sand. Snape looked down and he had to stop himself from screaming at the decaying bodies crawling up his legs, appearing from the water clinging to him.

'You shouldn't enter people's minds unannounced,' a childish voice giggled. 'Especially mine.'

Snape turned his head to see a much younger, and more insane, version of the Potter girl. Her grin didn't offer any comfort.

'It's not exactly a safe place to be.'

To avoid being brain dead, Snape escaped her mind quickly. He was amazed she let him.

Ω

Training was going great. Nikki had found Neville's talent in the healing arts and had immediately gone to Madam Pomfrey and asked her to tutor Neville in the healing arts. Pomfrey had accepted after she had tested Neville and Draco joined in too because he had interest in the healing arts.

Hermione was the Strategist, making plans worthy of a Child of Athena. She was like an open encyclopaedia and pretty much knew the whole library like the back of her hand. Out of the three trainees, Hermione was the best physically because she was much more use to it.

Draco was someone you didn't want as an enemy, especially in politics. Growing up in a noble household, he was trained to have Slytherin cunning and ambition. Blake handled most of Draco's training and he was quickly becoming a powerhouse.

It was during one of their morning training that Nikki finally found the source of the disturbance she had felt whenever Neville used magic.

'Neville,' Nikki said, holding Neville's wand having taken it along with everyone else's so they didn't cheat. 'Whose wand is this?'

'Eh,' Neville sat up from where he was lying down after his run. 'Oh, it's mine.'

'I meant did it belong to someone before you,' Nikki clarified.

'Um, yeah…it was my father's.'

Nikki frowned. 'I don't think you should be using that wand.'

'Why?'

'Ollivander says 'the wand chooses the wizard.' That wand wasn't made for you and is stunting your magic.'

'Does that mean if I get my own wand, I can do better magic?' Neville said hopefully.

'Sure.' Nikki took out her wand. 'Willow wood and heartstrings from a thestral. It works better than the holly and phoenix feather that I got from Ollivanders because it's custom made for me.'

'That…sounds like a dark wand,' Neville frowned.

'The only difference between light and dark is how you use it. But don't change the subject; are you going to get your own wand?' Nikki looked at him pointedly.

'I'll ask my gran.'

Ω

Nikki straddled the stick nervously.

Today the first years were having their flying lesson today - the key word being flying. Ever since she had discovered that she was the daughter of the Sea God, Nikki hadn't been keen on flying on a broomstick as she was when she was before she found out she was a demigod.

She felt someone pat her head and looked up to see Blake giving her a reassuring smile.

Blake had been the only one that she had told about her godly heritage. It just didn't feel right to keep things from someone she trusted her life with, even after their years apart. He took it all well – gods weren't a far fetch from witches and wizards. He just commented the Nikki never really did anything small.

Nikki was so distracted that she didn't realize that Neville was becoming nervous, which wasn't a good thing while he was mounted on a stick that could take him into the air. She only noticed, with the rest of the class, when Neville began lifting into the air and she was the only one that reacted when he started to fall.

Nikki was able to soften his fall with herself. He was shaking like a leaf but he was on solid ground.

'Miss Potter! Mr Longbottom! Are you alright?' Madam Hooch asked.

'Perfectly fine, Madam Hooch,' Nikki replied as she helped Neville up. 'But Neville's got a broken wrist.'

Madam Hooch insisted that she take both Nikki and Neville to the nurse but finally relented against Nikki's stubbornness and Neville needed help right away. Hooch left Nikki in charge, trusting the girl to keep the class in line.

If not out from her dominant personality, then fear of her infamous book bag.

During the first week, Madam Pomfrey had had an increase of students with headaches in the infirmary because Nikki had brained them with her book bag when she caught them bullying other students. It didn't matter if you were from her own house or not, she didn't discriminate when it came to bullying.

With practically unlimited authority over the kids, Nikki decided to have some fun.

'All right kiddies! Since Madam Hooch is away, I have something special in mind! You won't need your brooms for this, but you will have to run fast if you want to keep up!'

Everyone was afraid of what she had in mind...until she threw something round at Dean Thomas.

'You know what that is, don't you?'

Dean grinned, catching her idea pretty quick. It didn't take long for a quick game of football to start, with Nikki as referee and Hermione helping her, if only to keep the Gryffindors silent about a Syltherin being in control of the game. The only one that sat out was Ron.

Dean paused as he managed to get out of the game to take a breather.

'Where did you find a soccer ball this far out of civilization?'

'My trunk's bottomless. I just had so much fun stuffing stuff in them that I went overboard, found the soccer ball in there.'

Dean laughed and re-joined the game.

Madam Hooch returned to find something that had her gaping.

'What in the world?!'

All first years from all four houses were getting along like old friends. Not a single hex was being thrown, and they were actually acting like kids!

'Hey Madam Hooch, come to see my newest idea in the works?" Nikki called out with a grin. Nikki spotted something she didn't like and let out a sharp whistle with her two fingers. The player flinched and rubbed his head sheepishly but acknowledging his fault.

'What...?

'You people don't seem to realize that they are just kids. All you offer them in the form of games are Quidditch, Exploding Snap, and Wizard's Chess. Of course they're going to get bored with the same damn games!' Nikki said amused.

Hooch took that advice to heart, and discreetly asked some of her muggleborn colleagues for some games that the children could play whenever Quidditch wasn't an option.

Ω

'You did what!?'

'Um…we went into the forbidden corridor,' Neville repeated nervously.

Nikki placed her head in her hands. 'Why did you do that?' she mumbled. She peeked through her fingers at Hermione. 'Especially you. I still haven't broken you out of your 'rules shouldn't be broken' attitude yet.'

'We thought you were going to meet Ron,' Hermione admitted. 'We were going back when we almost got caught by Filch. The room was the fastest one we could get to.'

Ron had finally gotten angry with Slytherins sitting at the Gryffindor table, ignoring the fact that they sat at the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables as well, especially after the game of football during their flying lesson, and had challenged her to a wizard duel at midnight. Nikki had accepted but had no intention of actually appear. Apparently, Ron had come, and Hermione and Neville had come along.

Nikki sighed. 'And what was in the third corridor?'

'A three-headed dog,' Neville and Hermione said in unison.

Nikki just stared at them blankly. 'There's a Cerberus in the school?'

Hermione nodded. 'I think it's guarding something since it was standing on a trap door.'

_Is the headmaster trying to get someone killed? If he's trying to protect something, why point out where it is?_ Nikki thought.

Nikki shrugged. 'It's probably whatever the thief had tried to take from Gringotts.'

Hagrid was the half-giant games-keeper at Hogwarts. Nikki had introduced him to Tyson and asked him to help the young Cyclops to control his enormous strength. Hagrid had happily agreed since Nikki had known that he had been a half-giant and hadn't cared. Hagrid had invited her and her friends to his hut for tea and she had found an article in the _Daily Prophet _about a break-in at Gringotts where the vault that the thief had broken into had been cleared out the day before. What was suspicious was that the article was a month old.

'But why would it be here?' Hermione asked. Nikki could see the gears in her head turning.

'Hermione, don't go looking for trouble,' Nikki said, pointing at her. 'Wait 'til it comes to me.'


	5. Chapter 5

Nikki had a weird dream.

It started with Hagrid at Gringotts and taking a package, about the size of her fist, out of a vault. The scene changed into an unused classroom where a mirror sat. Above the mirror were the words _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. _She couldn't understand it but her attention was on what she saw in the mirror.

It was Nikki, and yet it was _not_ Nikki. She was wearing a white nightgown and much smaller than Nikki, smiling a smile bigger than Nikki had ever smiled. In the reflection's hands was a red stone.

Suddenly, the smile widened and turned insane. The reflection squeezed the stone and it was crushed in her hands.

Ω

Nikki woke up in her bed with Blake lying next to her. There were nights when Blake wouldn't return to the room and when she woke up, Blake would be in either his bed or hers, completely exhausted when he woke up. It wasn't strange for Nikki to have Blake sleeping so close her, having done it for years on the street.

Nikki knew that he was hiding something but when she questioned him about it, he wouldn't look at her. He assured her that it wasn't a lack of trust in her that made him not tell her.

That night, just before the Halloween feast, Nikki noticed that Hermione and Draco were nowhere to be seen. Nikki thought she might know why Hermione wasn't there but to be sure she asked Neville.

'That git, Ron, called her a know-it-all after she had helped him in Charms,' Neville replied, looking for once angry. 'Parvati told me that she's been crying in the girl's lavatory since.'

'What about Draco?' Nikki asked.

'He went after Hermione when he heard where she was,' Neville answered, grinning. Nikki grinned but then she turned serious.

'I'm going to kill that bastard,' Nikki said venomously.

'You'll have to get in line. I slipped a small pod of bubotous pus in his bed. I plan on using the langlock curse on him at dinner.' Neville said with a mischievous smirk.

Blake raised an eyebrow. 'You've been hanging out with us too much,' he commented. 'We might as well go get them and skip the Halloween feast. You can curse him later.'

Nikki and Neville agreed. They walked to the girl's lavatory and walked inside, where .

'Hermione…Hermione,' Nikki said, tapping on the door. 'What are you crying about? Ron or…' she left it hanging.

Hermione sniffed. 'B-both. I'm j-just f-feel-ling s-sad-d. R-ron just b-brought-t bad m-memories up.'

'Well, you can come out now,' Nikki coaxed softly. 'Ron's not here and you won't have to see him until you go back or you can just come sleep in my room.'

There was more sniffing but the cubicle door opened, revealing a red-eyed Hermione who launched herself at Nikki for a hug which Nikki gladly gave. The moment was ruined when the smell hit them. The ground shook and there was the sound of something big and metal being dragged across the floor.

Neville and Blake ran into the lavatory.

"There's a troll!' Blake said, pointing the way they came.

'Everyone!' Nikki screamed. 'The far corner!' Once the troll came into the lavatory, its back would be to them and they could sneak out.

It would have gone fine if the troll hadn't hit the cubicles, that sent planks of wood towards them and hitting Draco's foot unexpectedly, making him yelp. The troll turned around and when he spotted them, he begun to swing his club.

'Scatter!' Blake yelled. 'Distract him!' They didn't hesitate in following the orders.

Everyone began to throw things at the troll, hoping to confuse it. Mostly planks of wood and rubble, but Blake and Nikki were throwing pure magic. Blake and Nikki were trying to get a good hit on the troll's hand, hoping to make him drop it and possibly make him less dangerous with nothing in his hand. Blake finally succeeded and the club dropped with a big thud.

Nikki uncapped Riptide and was about to slice the troll while it was distracted with the pain in its hand when Hermione acted on her idea instead.

'Wingardium leviosa!' she incanted with a flick and a swish, just like Prof. Flitwick had taught them, and lifted the troll's club over its head and let the spell drop, allowing gravity to make its course and dropped the heavy club on the troll's head. They waited for a few minutes, hoping the troll didn't stand back up and breathed a sigh of relief when it didn't.

They couldn't celebrate any longer when Prof. McGonagall, Snape and Flitwick appeared at the entrance. They stared at the downed troll and panting children before demanding what happened.

'Why don't you ask Ron?' Neville said in reply, crossing his arms.

'It's fault that were here,' Draco added.

'What do you mean, Mr Malfoy?' McGonagall asked.

'Ron insulted Hermione even though she had helped him in Charms today,' Blake explained.

'I came in here to try and calm down but before I knew it, the while day had passed,' Hermione added.

'We came to bring Hermione with us to the kitchens and eat, just in case we had a sudden urge to hex Ronald Weasley to oblivion.' Nikki stated.

All five children stared at the Gryffindor Head of House, daring her to refute their claim without questioning said boy.

Nikki turned to Snape. 'Sir, if it is alright, could Neville, Draco and Hermione join us in our sleeping quarters. We have spare beds and I don't currently trust the Gryffindors to take care of their own.'

Snape hesitated but nodded anyway. McGonagall looked appalled about the accusation about her lions.

'My lions take care of each other, Miss Potter,' McGonagall said, her back straightening.

Nikki turned to look McGonagall in the eyes. '_Your lions_ have been bullying Hermione and Neville merely because of their association with us and neither you nor your lions have done anything to fix it. I don't know what you consider 'taking care of' but that's not it.' Nikki narrowed her eyes. 'Maybe you should stop seeing Slytherins as the bad guys and see that the Gryffindors are just as bad, they've just got more protection than Slytherins.'

After that, Nikki shuffled the three first years to a secret entrance to their room in one of the nearby hallways where they exited from under one of the work desk. After letting them shower and change, they immediately climbed into bed, Hermione sharing with Nikki and the boys getting their own, and fell asleep, taking comfort in the fact that there were people that could be trusted a metre away.

Ω

It was the Quidditch match between the Slytherins and Gryffindors.

Nikki honestly didn't understand why they played the most anticipated Quidditch match first instead of last.

Nikki had wanted to play but knew that she couldn't since the sky was Zeus' domain and flying would most likely get a lightning bolt aimed straight at her but that didn't mean that she couldn't make do with just watching. She was sitting with the Slytherins instead of her friends because she knew that for events like this, house unity was expected.

Honestly, the game was starting to bore her. The Seekers were having a hard time spotting the snitch, even though it was flying right near the Gryffindor Seeker's ear. Things started getting strange when the players started coming worryingly close to where she was sitting and she decided to leave the stand, telling Blake to tell her who won later. The trouble ended when she left.

Since everyone was at the Quidditch match, the castle was deserted so Nikki decided to explore. During her free time, she had been roaming the castle and trying to find its secrets, using her sensory ability to the max that she also noticed that the castle was sentient.

Nikki had gone pass that tapestry, looking for the door that led to the junk room (as she dubbed it) but it hadn't been there. It wasn't until that Halloween night, after the troll incident, when she had gone to the kitchens to get dinner that she found out from the house elves that the room was a 'Come-and-Go-Room.' You walked under the tapestry three times, thinking of a specific place and when you walked in, the room would become whatever you wanted.

Nikki had tried it, thinking of Camp Half-Blood amphitheatre and when she walked inside, she walked out into the camp amphitheatre with the fire was changing colours.

After more walking, she was drawn to an abandoned classroom and when she walked inside, she found a mirror. It wasn't just any mirror but the mirror from her dreams, the one with _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi _written above it. Now that she was out of her dream, she was able to translate it into _I show not your face but your heart's desire_ by reversing the inscription and rearranging the spaces.

Nikki looked into the mirror, expecting it to see the insane, little girl but what she saw was so much worse.

There was a man with messy hair and hazel eyes with an arm around the shoulder of a red-haired woman with emerald eyes, her mother Lilly Evans, and they were smiling at her. Poseidon was there too, standing in the back, hands on both their shoulders. Where she stood was her reflection, but it wasn't the insane reflection but a happier one and next to her were her friends. In her arms was a baby with the eyes of James and the hair colour of Lilly's, though it did inherit the bird's nest.

It was her family – her heart's desire - her whole family together, happy and alive, even Poseidon a part of it. Even though she knew that it wasn't real, she wanted to stay and stare at the image all day long, especially of the little boy in her reflection's arms.

_Nikki, _a voice in her head said._ Wake up, it's not real._

And though she didn't want to, she listened and turned away from the image, knowing the voice was right. They were gone now.

_It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live, _the voice said and she nodded, wiping her eyes for any tears that might have escaped.

Just as she turned around to escape the room, the door opened to reveal Headmaster Dumbledore.

'Ah, I see you've found the Mirror of Erised,' he said grandfatherly.

Nikki nodded and tilted her head, allowing her eyes to be seen past her fringe and just as she suspected, she felt someone bang on her mental shields just like it had been happening every dinner. Unlike the other times, she let him in.

Dumbledore found himself in a graveyard with a cartoonish background of a city at night. Looking around, he saw coffins above the ground and deciding to take his chances, opened one and out sat up a skeleton with only one eye and a top hat. He grabbed Dumbledore by the shoulders nad shouted to the graveyard, 'Let's party!'

The other coffins opened and other skeletons hopped out of their coffins. Taking each other's bones, they began to use them as instruments and the skeleton with the top hat began to dance with Dumbledore, spinning him around in a circle and when they were spinning really fast that the surroundings couldn't be seen, the skeleton let go.

Out in the real world Dumbledore fell on his bottom, as if he really had been spun by a skeleton and then let go.

'Headmaster,' Nikki said. 'It's not nice to go into people's minds uninvited and even worse to barge right in. if you try it again, I assure you that you won't be coming back out.'

Nikki walked out of the room, leaving a disgruntled Headmaster behind.


	6. Chapter 6

It was Christmas.

Nikki was staying, on the insistence of Sally, since she still hadn't found an apartment away from Smelly Gabe and she was afraid Nikki might maim him.

Blake was also staying, saying that his family usually held a Christmas ball and he wouldn't attend until he was thirteen so why go back and do nothing.

Draco and Neville had stayed behind as well, not really eager to go home. Draco was afraid about what his father might do to him if Draco was home alone with him because he was friends with Nikki. Neville was still sore about the fact that his Great-Uncle Algie had thrown him out of the window to prove that Neville wasn't a squib. Nikki allowed them to use Hedwig to send their wished to their families.

Hermione had gone back home because her parents wanted to be sure that she was perfectly fine at Hogwarts and not lying in her letters. They may not have thought about Hermione lying but she had been hanging around Nikki, and while it brought Hermione out of her shell, Nikki was still trying to convert Hermione to the dark side.

Hermione insisted that they continued their search for Flamel over the Christmas holidays while she was away. The group had mentioned the Cerberus, whose name was Fluffy, when they were having tea with Hagrid and while he was a great friend and all, he couldn't keep and secret and spilled out something about Dumbledore and someone named Flamel.

Nikki already knew who Flamel was, having found a collectable card that Flamel was an alchemist and when she remembered the dream about the stone in her insane reflection's hands, she concluded that the Philosopher's Stone was what was being guarded by Fluffy (what a name for a Cerberus.)

Everyone had decided to have a sleep over in the Gryffindor dorms since it was practically empty except for the Weasleys and Neville. Ron had kept far away from them after the talk that McGonagall had given him after he almost got Hermione killed. He kept his comments to himself and that was fine with them.

Ron seemed to take a long while to figure out that Nikki wasn't like normal Slytherins and that confused him enough.

The twins had welcomed the group with open arms, having gotten along with the group really well after the prank war that they had initiated against them using both magic and mundane pranks. Nikki had explained that it was a great way to practice their stealth skills and get back at any of their bullies without getting caught.

Hermione was slightly against pranking the teachers and prefects but was fine with the other students as long as they actually had done something wrong. When the group wanted to prank an authority figure, Hermione just helped them plan.

This Christmas morning, Nikki had a plan in mind.

Just like every morning, Nikki had woken up before anyone else except Blake who was helping her with this plan. Everyone had slept in the common rooms, so it was easy to get everyone at once.

Fred and George Weasley woke up to something cold being thrown in their faces. Neville and Draco were treated to ice cold water. Ron had icicle spiders dropped into his shirt. The boys all shot up and yelped. They looked up and saw Nikki and Blake, already dressed in warm clothes for outside, holding snowballs and launching them at their faces.

'We declare a snowball fight!' they yelled and ran out of the common rooms.

The boys sat in shock but then quickly registered what Nikki and Blake had said. The twins were the first one up and changed with Draco and Neville right behind them. Ron was hesitate but came along anyway.

They walked outside, dressed for the weather, to see the whole field covered in snow but what drew their attention were the ten snowmen standing around them in a semi-circle. Nikki and Blake stepped out from behind a snowman and pointed their wands up at the boys and Nikki yelled, 'Attack!'

The snowmen began to move, spinning their stick arms in a circle and launched snowballs at the boys, who were quick to dodge. The boys began retaliating but then Ron was hit in the face. There was a squawk and the others turned to see Ron with a duck beak.

They were so distracted that Nikki and Blake were able to get Neville, Draco and the twins in the face as well.

Neville developed badger ears and tail while Fred developed silver fox ears and tails. Draco's skin had turned pink while George's had turned blue.

Nikki and Blake were laughing so had they fell and gave enough time for Fed and George to hit them as well.

The whole group came into the Great Hall for breakfast wet and covered in snow and they now all had animal parts.

Ron had a duck's beak and his hair had turned to feathers. Neville and Fred had kept the badger and fox ears and tails. Nikki had a black cat's ears and tails while Blake had a wolf's. George had antlers and a bun tail while Draco had gotten one horn on his forehead.

For presents, Nikki had gotten the twins each a book on mundane pranks, Neville a book on rare plants, both magical and mundane. She had gotten Draco a mundane camera since he had shown a fascination the mundane community. Hermione she had given a book on pure-blood etiquette, hoping that the purebloods might stop being so hard on her if she knew how to act.

Nikki from the twins: a book full of bedtime stories from the magical community, Neville: a book of pressed flowers from both magical and mundane, Draco: a dream catcher since he knew about her insomnia, and Hermione: a new sketchbook that was charmed to be endless and waterproof. Nikki had also gotten a gift from an unknown giver – a cloak that once belonged to her father that turned you invisible. She only kept it when she made sure that no unpleasant spells were on it.

Blake and Nikki had gotten each other the same gift: a metal bangle that had inscriptions on it. Nikki's said: '_Evil has a way of befriending the good, and dragging them into the darkness.'_ Blake's said: '_You only live once, but if you live it right, once is enough.'_ They were simple gifts but that was enough for them. The things they wanted could not be bought.

Ω

'Is that what…I think it is?' Blake asked slowly, staring at the thing on Hagrid's table.

The group was taking another visit to Hagrid but his hut was terribly hot, even for Britain's weather. Nikki was drawn to the pot boiling in the fire and Hagrid began to get nervous. After a while, Hagrid finally cracked and pulled an egg out of the pot and set it on the table. The egg had hatched into a baby dragon in front of their eyes.

'Hagrid…you live in a wooden house,' Nikki slowly stated.

'But aren't dragons … illegal?' Draco asked nervously and Neville nodded. 'Where'd you get one?'

'Won it in a game,' Hagrid said proudly. 'Don't remember much about the man 'cause he hid his face and I was kind of tipsy by then.'

'And he just gave it to you?' Hermione said incredulously.

'If I could take care of a Fluffy, I could take care of a dragon,' Hagrid said. 'Just play a little music and he falls right to sleep.'

That sent alarm bells ringing in Nikki's head but she had to keep her mind on the problem at hand. 'Hagrid, you can't keep a dragon. It's dangerous.'

'I'll be fine, Nikki,' Hagrid waved the worry away.

'You might be Hagrid,' Nikki agreed, 'but what about the students?'

Hagrid frowned, rolling the thought around in his head but he sighed and relented.

'We'll contact the twin's brother and he'll come pick the dragon up,' Nikki said. 'He'll be fine with his own kind.'


	7. Chapter 7

The plan was to take Norbert, the name Hagrid had given the dragon, to the Astronomy Tower and deliver him to Charlie Weasley, the twin's older brother who worked in Romania with dragons. An hour pass curfew, Nikki, Blake and Neville, who would be their watch-out, sneaked out of their rooms and met up at Hagrid's hut.

Hagrid had packed Norbert into a box for easy carrying with things he thought the dragon might need on its journey along with a teddy bear which the dragon promptly ripped apart as Hagrid said goodbye. The package was delivered safely but they got caught by Prof. McGonagall, along with Neville and given detention.

'I don't get why she gave us detention along with taking points,' Nikki complained. 'It wasn't like we were doing anything bad rather than breaking curfew. She must still be sore about the talk I gave her.'

Draco nervously laughed. 'Um…older students go up there late at night…usually with a friend.'

Nikki and Blake both paused in what they were doing. They both looked up at each other and then turned away, blushing.

Draco smirked at Neville and Hermione who just sighed.

Ω

Their detention was in the Forbidden Forest.

Blake had been assigned a different detention so it was only Nikki, Neville and Draco, who had been caught with the twins pranking, who were going into the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid to help search for an injured unicorn.

Hagird told the group to split up so that they could cover more ground, taking Neville with him and leaving Fang, his dog, with Draco and Nikki, despite him saying that Fang was a coward. It had only taken a few minutes travelling deeper into forest before Draco noticed the trail of goldish blood. Following the trail led them to a clearing where they found the unicorn and something else.

The unicorn was dead, that much Nikki was certain because she couldn't hear its voice in her mind but what made it much worse was that someone was actually drinking the blood from the dead unicorn's body.

Nikki had read once that drinking a unicorn's blood could save a mortally injured person but you would have slayed a pure and defenceless animal to save yourself and from the moment the blood touched your lips, you would be cursed to a half-life. Only one who had nothing to lose and everything to gain would ever commit such a crime. That someone was actually drinking the blood of a unicorn in front of her eyes was disturbing.

'Draco,' Nikki whispered. 'Go get Hagrid quickly!'

'But what about you?' he asked, keeping his eyes on the hooded figure leaning over the unicorn's body.

She showed him her invisibility cloak and draped it over herself. Draco nodded and ran off to find Hagrid with Fang on his heels.

The hooded figure must have heard something because he looked up. Nikki's scar began to hurt and she fell out of her hiding place behind the bush. This hurt so much more than the diadem! The thing stood up and began slithering towards her, like a snake. Nikki shakily got to her feet and uncapped Riptide, not trusting herself to use magic with her mind filled with the thought of pain.

Before she could attack, there was a howl and a wolf jumped in front of her, its back facing Nikki like it was trying to protect her. The thing slowly back away and the pain slowly subsided but her scar had begun to bleed. Nikki looked at the wolf, its black fur making it easy for it to mend into the darkness, and the blond streaks and paws the only things that she could see clearly. She heard a jingle and saw two bangles on the wolf's front right leg.

Once it was certain that the hooded figure was gone, the wolf stopped growling and stepped out of its defensive position. It turned its head to face her and she stared into slitted purple eyes. The wolf's ears began to twitch like it was listening to something, and then it shot off, disappearing amongst the trees.

A minute later, a centaur galloped into the clearing. He spotted her and then he spotted the celestial blade in her hand and his eyes widened.

'A godling at Hogwarts,' he said.

Nikki finally noticed that her Riptide was still in its sword form and re-capped it, just in time for Hagrid and the boys to burst into the clearing. When they saw that the situation was fine, they breathed a sigh of relief and the boys ran over to Nikki, checking to make sure that she was alright while Nikki assured them that she was fine other than a headache and a bloody scar. Hagrid went over to the centaur.

'Firenze,' Hagrid greeted. 'Did you help Nikki out?'

Firenze shook his head. 'I was merely following the trail of the injured unicorn and came upon the child perfectly fine by herself.'

Hagrid turned to Nikki and spread his arms. 'What happened?'

'Someone was drinking the unicorn's blood,' Nikki said and Firenze and Hagrid's eyes widened. 'The person noticed me but ran away when I threw a rock at him.'

Hagrid and Firenze had a conversation in whispers, Nikki only catching the words 'half-life' and 'the stone.' Hagrid took the group back to the castle and dismissed them back to their dorms.

Ω

Nikki was still awake when she heard the sound of the shower running. Pretending to be asleep, Nikki made sure that it was Blake in the shower by reading their magical signature. Nikki let out a sigh and sat up, letting go of the knife in her hand when she felt the familiar signature of Blake.

The shower turned off and after a few minutes, Blake walked out with a towel over his head. He stopped when he saw Nikki up.

'You're awake,' He said sleepily.

'I was almost attacked in the Forbidden Forest,' Nikki said. 'My insomnia acted up.'

Blake nodded slowly. He seemed out of it, in a complete daze. It explained why on these nights he would mistake her bed for his. Nikki lifted up one side of her blanket and Blake climbed in, laying his head on her lap as she draped the blanket over him. Nikki placed a hand on his forehead and felt that it was hot.

'You're burning up,' Nikki said. 'You might have a fever.'

Blake shook his head. 'I'll be fine in the morning. It happens every time.'

Nikki hummed and turned off the lights, lying back down and tried to get some sleep, instinctively running her hand through Blake's hair.


	8. Chapter 8

'Uh…I don't want to see another book again,' Nikki said from where she had collapsed, sitting on Blake.

'Oh please,' Hermione snorted. 'You like reading as much as I do, even with your dyslexia.'

Nikki humph'd. 'Fine, I don't want to see another _school_ book again,' she said. 'Reading in Latin is so easy.'

The year was coming to a close and the end of year exam, the bane of every student, had just ended. Nikki had every intention of relaxing after the study sessions Hermione had forced the whole group into.

'We still have to study Nikki,' Hermione said. 'And then it's our O.W.L!'

'We don't have those until fifth year,' Draco whined.

'Let us rest Hermione,' Neville joined in.

'And you shouldn't be studying so much,' Blake added. 'Your brain won't remember anymore.'

'What do you mean?'

'Think of your brain as a balloon,' Nikki explained. 'You fill it to the max and then you can't fill it anymore. Then you go over the max and the balloon pops and then you lose everything you stuffed in the balloon.'

'When you blow up a balloon,' Blake said, 'and let the air out, the next time you blow it up it's easier. Let your mind adjust to the information you already have and then re-fill it again.'

Hermione humph'd. 'So you're telling me not to study.'

'Yes,' they all said in unison.

Ω

Nikki was in the third corridor playing with Fluffy. After Annabeth's display with the Cerberus in the Underworld, Nikki had learnt that even though it was a huge dog, it was still and dog. When Nikki hade discovered from Hermione and Hagrid that there was a Cerberus in the third corridor, she made an effort to come see Fluffy and play with him. Blake usually came to watch out for her just in case she got hurt but every time he saw Nikki play with the big Cerberus, he couldn't help but be amazed.

The door opened and, thinking it was a teacher coming to check on Fluffy, hid under Nikki's invisibility cloak which she tended to take everywhere with her for emergencies and they were able to witness Quirrell levitate a harp into the third corridor and charm it to play music, putting Fluffy to sleep.

Unfortunately, Fluffy had fallen asleep on the trap door so Nikki and Blake couldn't immediately follow after. Just as they were drawing their wands to lift Fluffy's paw, the door opened to let in their friends.

'What are you guys doing here?' Blake asked.

'We could ask you the same thing,' Neville replied.

'Nikki was playing with Fluffy.'

Draco and Neville just stared at her incredulously. Hermione slapped her forehead and said, 'Draco figured out that someone was going to steal whatever Fluffy was guarding. Dumbledore's not here so it was the perfect time for the thief to steal it.'

Nikki nodded. 'Fluffy's guarding the Philosopher's stone,' she revealed. 'Flamal is Nicholas Flamal, the creator of said stone.'

'You knew this and didn't tell us,' Draco said.

Nikki shrugged. 'Didn't think it was important, but now isn't the time. The thief's already inside.'

Once they got the door open, Nikki turned to Neville. 'Neville, I need you to stay here and get a teacher if we don't come out in an hour or we need help. Understood?'

Neville nodded seriously, knowing that Nikki had just trusted the life of his friends to him.

She turned to Draco. 'You are gonna be his back-up just in-case we can't stop the thief.' Draco nodded.

Blake jumped in first, followed by Nikki then Hermione. Something softened their fall but then its vines started wrapping around their limbs and attempted to choke them to death.

'It's Devil's Snare!' Blake yelled. 'Light a fire!'

Hermione grabbed her wand, the only one that didn't have her hands tied up, and shot fire at the vine and it collapsed in itself and they fell through. They were lucky that they were able to safely land in a roll on the ground below.

After walking down a dark hallway that seemed to go on forever, they exited into a room with only one door and flying birds?...No, keys. Hermione tried the unlock spell on the lock but it was charmed against the particular spell.

'I guess we have to catch the key,' Hermione suggested, looking up at the millions of flying keys. 'But which one?'

'That one.' Blake pointed to a key with a bent wing. 'But I wonder if we could just pick the lock.'

'Maybe,' Nikki said. 'The British wizarding community still thinks that non-magical people are uneducated merely because they can't use magic. But did you bring your lock picks?'

Blake shook his head. 'We could break the door.'

'It's probably charmed to be unbreakable like the lock was charmed to only unlock with the key.' Nikki said. She looked at the door. 'Could we burn it?'

They both shrugged but decided to give it a try. Blake would be the one casting the spell and Hermione would be protecting them against the smoke. Nikki couldn't do much since fire didn't go well with her.

On the other side of the door was a maze. Nikki groaned, she wasn't one for mazes.

'Do you think we can go together or just one by one?' she asked.

'There's only one way to find out,' Blake said, walking towards the entrance of the maze.

'Blake, wait,' Nikki said. She put her hand into her pocket and took out three blood marbles. She gave one to Blake and Hermione each. 'Just in case we can only go one at a time. If one of us gets to the exit put the marble to your lips and the other marbles should be drawn to it, leading the others out.'

Blake nodded and walked into the maze. Just like they had guessed, the entrance closed up and another opened up somewhere else.

'One at a time it is.'

Hermione went next and then Nikki. It was only a few minutes before her marble began to glow a violet light and float in the air. She followed the marble to exit to find Hermione and Blake already there.

Through the next door, there was a troll but fortunately, it was already asleep. They didn't want to deal with another troll after the first time though they could have done without the smell.

Upon entering the next chamber, the door was blocked by a purple fire and the exit was blocked by black fire. A table with seven bottles, differing in size, sat in the middle of the room with a piece of parchment with a riddle:

'_Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,_

_Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,_

_One among us seven will let you move ahead,_

_Another will transport the drinker back instead,_

_Two among our number hold only nettle wine,_

_Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line._

_Choose, unless you wish to stay here for evermore,_

_To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:_

_First, however slyly the poison tries to hide_

_You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;_

_Second, different are those who stand at either end,_

_But if you would move onwards neither is your friend;_

_Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,_

_Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;_

_Fourth, the second left and the second on the right_

_Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight._'

'This isn't magic - it's logic - a puzzle,' Hermione said after she read it. 'A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic; they'd be stuck in here forever.'

'So have you figured it out?' Blake asked.

Hermione picked out the bottle with the smallest amount in it. 'This will take you forward but there's only enough for one person.' She picked up the last bottle. 'This will take you back through the purple fire.'

'You should go back,' Nikki said. 'Let Neville know that we're fine and possibly get a healer. The thief might not make it out in one piece.'

'What are you going to do?' Hermione asked.

'Make him lose a limb or two.'

Hermione raised an eyebrow. 'What did he do to piss you off?'

Nikki shrugged. 'I figured that the thief must have tried to steal the stone once before,' she said. 'The biggest distraction was the troll on Halloween.' Her expression darkened. 'If we hadn't been there, you and Draco could have serious hurt.'

Hermione gulped. Nikki had never tried to hide her slightly insane disposition from her but Hermione was long use to being around someone who wasn't right in the head after living and taking care of her mother alone for so long. Nikki was much easier for Hermione to handle than her mother ever was because she could trust Nikki not to accidently hurt her.

Hermione swallowed the potion, shivering from the chill it gave her and giving the bottle to Blake and walked through the purple fire. Blake put the bottle onto the table and watched as Nikki drank the potion that would take her forward.

Before Nikki could swallow it, Blake placed his lips against hers and stole some of the potion. The heat on her face distracted her from the chill that went up her spine as she swallowed the potion in surprise.

'We're going together,' Blake said and Nikki just nodded.

Ω

On the other side of the black flames, Quirrell was standing in front of the Mirror of Erised, muttering to himself. Before Nikki and Blake could do anything, Quirrell cast a spell that made ropes shoot out of his wand and tie them up.

'Just wait there,' he said. 'I'm very busy.' Quirrell walked over to the mirror and stared at it. 'I'm holding the stone and I'm giving it to my master but how do I get it?'

'Use the girl,' a mysterious voice said. Nikki couldn't see anyone else but she was slightly distracted by the pain in her scar.

Quirrel picked her up, undid the spell and pushed her towards the mirror. Nikki stared into the mirror. Her family was there but in the background, having a picnic on the beach and in front of her was her happy reflection with the little boy in sitting in front of her. Out of her reflection's pocket, she pulled out a blood red stone and then put it back in its pocket. Nikki felt something fall into her pocket.

'What do you see?' Quirrell asked.

'I see…me, holding a little boy,' Nikki said, not even bothering to lie since she had already gotten what Quirrell was after so he couldn't take it.

Quirrell shoved her back to Blake, who she passed a knife to, as he paced in front of the mirror. 'Do I break it?'

'She has it,' said the mysterious voice. 'Take it from her.'

Quirrel turned to her again and began to approach her. just as he was about to grab her again, she took another knife and stabbed him in the foot. He screamed and Nikki tackled him, causing his turban to fall off…to reveal another face. Nikki was shocked and it gave enough time for Quirrell to stand back up and grab her neck but something happened.

Quirrell's skin began to burn and he took his hands away, screaming. He choked out blood and Quirrell turned around to see Blake holding a knife handle with the blade in his back. Nikki jumped and placed her hands on Quirrell's face which began to burn just like his hands had done with her neck.

In a few minutes, all that remained was Quirrell's robes. From his ashes, a wraith floated up and passed through Nikki before disappearing into the air.

Nikki clutched her head. It felt like it was exploding! There was a screeching in her mind, just like the diadem at done when she had attacked it with Riptide. Nikki screamed and was knocked out.


	9. Chapter 9

Nikki opened her eyes to see blinding white and she knew immediately where she was. She groaned and tried to sit up when she felt a weight on her arm. Nikki looked down to see that Blake was sitting next to her, his head leaning on the bed and on her arm, asleep.

Nikki was able to sit up without waking up Blake when the door opened and in came Dumbledore and her mood just plummeted.

'Ah, my girl,' he said. 'It's so good to see you awake.' He frowned at Blake but it was quickly wiped off his face, but not fast enough that Nikki didn't catch it. 'You've just made it in time for the end-of-year feast.'

'Headmaster,' Nikki said. 'What happened?'

'Well, I came back after I was told that I hadn't been requested at the ministry to see that someone had entered the third corridor,' Dumbledore explained. 'The teachers found Mr Malfoy, Longbottom and Miss Granger who explained what was going on. We had just passed the troll when Mr Ritter came through the black flames carrying you.'

'What happened to the stone?'

'It's been destroyed,' he said. 'Flamel and I talked about it and he said that it was the right thing to do.'

Nikki knew that Blake was awake when he discretely squeezed her arm. He had something to tell her.

'Nikki, my dear,' Dumbledore said and Nikki had to hide a wince from the endearment that she didn't want from him. 'I've heard that you haven't been living with your Aunt and Uncle.'

'Yes that is true,' Nikki confirmed. 'And I have no intention of going back.'

'But my dear, I must insist. It is the safest place for you to be outside of Hogwarts.'

Dumbledore paused in his speech when he heard growling. Blake lifted his head and glared at Dumbledore.

'Don't you dare lie, you old goat,' Blake growled. 'She is not going back and you're not making her.'

'But it is for her safety,' Dumbledore insisted.

Blake snorted. Before he could say anymore, Nikki placed a hand on his head, silencing him.

'Headmaster Dumbledore,' Nikki said. 'Unless it has something to do with my education, don't tell me what to do.' She glared. 'Outside Hogwarts, you have no control in my business…unless you want to go for another dance.'

Dumbledore flinch but let the matter drop and then was chased out of the infirmary by Madam Pomfrey.

'He's lying,' Blake said. 'The stone wasn't destroyed.'

'What do you mean?' Nikki asked.

'I swapped the real one with a fake I transfigured from your marble,' Blake explained. 'Not sure if he really destroyed that on or not but I contacted Flamel and sent the real one back to him.'

Nikki crossed her legs and began to meditate. After a while, she was able to make a connection with the marble she had given Blake and nodded. 'He hasn't destroyed the fake stone,' she confirmed and then she smirked. 'It's like a hidden camera in his office.'

Ω

After the end-of-year feast where Slytherin won the house cup: Nikki, Blake, Hermione, Neville and Draco sat in a compartment in the back of the train, just like they did when they had first met and Blake revealed the truth about what happened to the Philosopher's Stone.

'I'm going to say this only once,' Nikki said. 'I don't trust Dumbledore.'

Draco blinked. 'That'll be news,' he said.

'Why?' Neville asked.

'This whole year, he's been trying to forcibly enter my mind without my permission,' Nikki said. 'I also hate meddling people. He tried to get me to go back to my Aunt and Uncle.' Hermione choked on the water she was drinking. 'Not to mention he's the one who left me in their 'care' in the first place.'

Hermione had a disgusted look on her face. She knew about Nikki's relatives. She had met them and they were not pleasant people and she didn't like Dudley at all.

'What do your Aunt and Uncle have to do with anything?' Draco asked.

'Think of them as bullies, except smarter,' Nikki said.

'They're monsters,' Hermione muttered. 'I've never met such rotten people in my life.'

Ω

They split up at King's Cross Station. Draco went over to a man with long blond hair, who sneered at Nikki, that she guessed was Draco's father. Neville went over to a strict old lady that must have been his grandmother. Hermione went over to her parents, Dan and Emma Granger who Nikki easily recognized and said hello to. Blake was still waiting for his ride.

Nikki didn't immediately leave since her transport to New York wouldn't be ready until the next day so decided to stay with Blake and beat him in poker.

'I can't believe you're losing Blake,' a voice said beside them.

It was an eight year old girl wearing a gothic-lolita outfit: a white shirt with a black skull and two arm bands, black skirt with a red belt and black-and-white socks that reached her thighs. Her hair was red, braided in two queues and dark blue eyes.

'She has the luck of the devil, Vita,' Blake complained. 'She has already robbed plenty of pureblood children of their money during the year.'

'Maybe she should play against Nanoha then.' The girl turned to Nikki and gave her hand which Nikki took in a handshake. 'I'm Vita.'

'Nikki.'

Vita turned to Blake. 'It's time to go. Signum wants to make sure that you haven't been slacking in your training.'

Blake stood up, waving as he walked away.

Ω

'So she's Nix, is she?' Vita asked. She had a smug look on her face. 'Pretty girl.'

'Yeah…' Blake trailed off, blushing.

'I _so_ have to tell Hayate.'

Blake paused in his walking and Vita walked ahead. Blake's brain finally rebooted and he ran to catch up with Vita. 'Don't do that! She'll become a nightmare.'

Ω

A/N: If my writing is bad, sorry. I'm not a good writer. I started writing on Fanfiction because I had these ideas in my head that needed to get out.

If things seem familiar from something else, then sorry about that too.

Thank you for the reviews!


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